Lea Salonga is definitely one of the busiest Filipino music artists, if not the busiest in the international scene these days. In May, she enthralled again her legion of Filipino followers with her two-night jam-packed shows, My Life Onstage, at the Philippine International Convention Center. Now, with the title role of the coveted Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, Cinderella, Lea has her hands full.
Behind the scene with Lea Salonga during the filming of the Take Breast Care to Heart, an info-video on early breast-cancer detection
Despite her busy schedule, Lea has managed to squeeze in a new role for herself—as one of the celeb endorsers of the flagship program of ICanServe Foundation, an advocacy group composed mainly of breast-cancer survivors dedicated to raising people’s awareness of breast cancer and giving hope to those who have been diagnosed with the illness.
“Many women fear that being diagnosed with breast cancer is almost the same as being dead. We want them to know that there’s life ahead, a more purpose-driven one,” says Alice Orleans, one of the foundation’s prime movers.
In early June this year, ICanServe launched “Ating Dibdibin,” the country’s first community-based screening program.
Warning to all women
It wasn’t hard to convince Lea to accept the role for ICanServe. She relates that after hearing about the foundation from her mom, Ligaya Salonga, she met up with Alice and founding president, Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, two breast-cancer survivors who are the prime movers of the foundation.
“I felt strongly about it because I knew enough people who have survived and, or, passed away from breast cancer. And I think everybody knows somebody that has had breast cancer or any type of cancer.” Lea mentions her husband’s grandfather and uncle who both passed away from cancer, adding that she and her husband as a couple have people close to them who have had the disease.
“It’s like a given that when you’ve been touched by it and knowing that one day you can possibly suffer from it, you have to do something to make more women empowered and aware that you can do something to take care of yourself,” Lea explains. She believes that convincing cancer patients that it’s not the end of the world is the best thing to do for them while knowledge empowerment is the best thing to do for those without cancer. 
For the rest of the article, please see the July – September 2008 issue.